Southern Baptists urge continued ban on gay Scouts

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NASHVILLE — The nation’s largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay Scouts and leaders when it votes in May.

The executive committee of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention passed the resolution Tuesday, stating that a proposal to alter the ban would ‘‘place the Boy Scouts organization at odds with a consistent biblical worldview on matters of human sexuality, making it an organization that would no longer complement, but rather contradict, our belief in God and His moral precepts that serve as the basis for our Christian faith.’’

The Scouts announced last month that they would consider a proposal to let the sponsor of each individual troop decide its own policy on gays.

About 70 percent of all Scout units are sponsored by religious denominations. Since the proposed policy change was announced, the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention has been among the most vocal opponents.

The resolution includes a call for like-minded corporate leaders to support the Scouts financially, ‘‘sending a strong signal to those corporations that have pressured the Scouts to capitulate to popular culture by financial coercion.’’